Solar Philippines gets $14M fund for Bali project

Businessman Leandro Leviste’s Solar Philippines and its Jakarta-based partner Medco Energi secured a loan of $14 million or about P792.3 million from Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) to develop what could be the largest ground-mounted solar project in Southeast Asia’s biggest market.

Solar Philippines said in a statement over the weekend that their joint venture, PT Medco Solar Bali Timur, has signed a loan agreement with BNI for the construction of a 25-megawatt (MW) solar farm in the Kubu District of Karangasem Regency, East Bali.

According to Solar Philippines, BNI is actively focused on financing projects that are environmentally friendly as an effort to encourage the green energy transition in Indonesia.

Solar Philippines in 2019 partnered with Medco Energi, the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production company in Indonesia.

Together, they submitted a bid and bested several rivals in the first competitive bidding of Indonesia’s state utility PLN for a solar-based supplier.

The joint venture secured a contract to undertake not only the 25-MW project in East Bali but also another 25-MW facility in West Bali. Agreements with PLN were signed in 2022.

They aim to energize the first Bali project by the end of this year and the other by 2025.

The joint venture began construction last year of the East Bali farm, which has an estimated project cost of $20 million.

A combination of BNI’s credit facility and the equity investment of Medco Energi and Solar Philippines is bankrolling the planned facility.

Solar Philippines holds a 49 percent ownership stake in PT Medco Solar Bali Timur and owns a 49 percent stake in PT Medco Solar Bali Barat, the project proponent of West Bali project.

The homegrown firm noted that Indonesia has one of the world’s lowest solar capacities per capita, with an estimated total 500 MW of solar power generators operating in the country of 279 million people.

“This is due to low power prices, and the scarcity of land in the most populous island of Java, with challenges similar to developing solar in Luzon,” the company added.